The Panama Canal is planning to continue reducing the flow of ships through this waterway, after it has sharply reduced the number of transits due to the El Nino weather pattern, the head of the canal management agency said on September 14 (local time).
AFP reported that Panama has declared a nationwide state of emergency because El Nino, a phenomenon forming in the Pacific Ocean, affects global weather patterns and pushes global temperatures up.
These conditions caused a severe drought in Central America, posing a thorny problem for the Panama Canal connecting the two oceans.
About 5% of global trade passes through this waterway route, the project cannot operate if there is a lack of water used for the lock system - the part that lifts and lowers ships at the starting and ending points of the journey.
Canal authorities reduced the number of daily transits from 36 to 32 on September 4 to save water, and will continue to reduce it to an "average of 29.5 transits" per day from October, according to a draft budget submitted to the Panamanian Parliament.
The approved budget "ensures that the canal continues to operate safely, continuously, efficiently and profitably," said Canal Affairs Minister Jose Ramon Ycaza.
The 2026 El Nino is forecast to be the strongest since data recording began four decades ago. In 2023, this phenomenon forced the canal to reduce the number of daily transits from 38 to 22.
The pressure is even greater as the US and Israeli war on Iran pushes up flow through the canal, due to the stagnation in the Strait of Hormuz - a transit route for 1/5 of global oil and gas.
